Genre: I'm working on it.
Status: I've only just done the first part, but I fully intend on carrying on until I finish!
I was in the car on the way to school, when an idea suddenly came to me as we passed by the Kindy where I used to go. It was just a title - "The Carnations Whiz." The very first ideas included a nerdy boy who knew how to help other guys impress girls with flowers, but could never seem to do it himself. It's funny how the idea had nothing to do with the kindy at all (in fact, there aren't even flowers near that place). Well, the main story idea underwent a lot of changes, and I've only just managed to write the first part. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, but I'm happy with my main character, so that helps!
The Carnation kid is about a young man called Jimmy who sits on a bench and sometimes hands out carnation flowers to passersby. The story will switch back and forth between past and present, exploring certain parts of Jimmy's past and then drawing back to the present - and the people he meets on the park bench.
Just to let you know, the "present day" of this story is set in 2008, not 2010. So just pretend it's 08 when you read it.
Meredith Street was as quiet as her neighbouring roads were bustling with life. Small trees spaced evenly beside the empty road waved gently in the light breeze. To one side stood a small cafe, from which wafted the early morning scent of crisp croissants and chocolate.
A woman stepped out of the diminutive building and onto the pathway, one hand clasped around a foam coffee cup and the other holding tightly to the hand of a young child. As they approached the road, the child squinted carefully at it before crossing; one chubby hand safely within her mother’s and the other grasping a balloon on a string.
Still hand in hand, they walked several metres on, until they had almost reached a park pleasantly situated parallel to the road. Beethoven’s ninth symphony sounded loudly from the pocket of the woman’s stylishly cut beige coat, and she shook her hand away from the child’s to answer.
Pacing away slightly as she spoke, she stood close enough to keep the child safely within sight.
But her distance was enough for the child to start feeling quite alone.
Bored, the girl waited a few minutes before deciding to head to the park playground and started walking quickly towards it in a clumsy manner.
She never would have even noticed the funny man sitting on an old bench right in front of the park if he hadn’t called out to her first.
‘Hello,’ he had said as she lumbered past.
The child stopped abruptly and teetered back several steps until they were face to face.
‘That’s a lovely balloon you have there,’ he continued, inclining his head slightly toward the large blue balloon.
The girl thought there was something odd about the words he used, they sounded like the sort of thing a much older person would say.
The stranger only looked to be in about his early twenties, wearing a plain t shirt and faded jeans. He was barefoot and sat cross legged on one side of the bench. His hair, neither wavy nor straight but rather somewhere in between, was a mix of different shades of brown. He twisted a single purple flower between his fingers and completely surrounding him were bunches and bunches of bright frilly carnations - although the other half of the bench remained empty, as though he were inviting someone to sit down.
The girl’s fingers curled tighter around the balloon string somewhat protectively.
‘I’m not going to take it from you,’ he assured her seriously. He studied her suspicious expression. ‘Would you like it?’ He held out the purple flower. The child stared at him. He had strange eyes; eyes which reflected many different colours at the same time. Eyes that looked a pale green-grey when he looked at her and browny blue when he turned away.
The girl hesitated. She had been warned not to associate with strangers. But he was friendly, and the big purple flower was very pretty. Reluctantly, she reached out her free hand and accepted the gift.
‘Fanks,’ she said, lisping through the hole where her two front teeth should have been.
‘Would you like another one for your mum?’ he asked, gesturing towards the many other colourful flowers which littered the ground around him. The girl nodded, and plucked a red flower out of the pile. She turned around, but seeing her mother still busy, she decided to awkwardly sit down next to the flower-man until her mother was finished.
‘I’m Wednesday, by the way,’ she said, pointing to herself with the two flowers. The flower-man looked confused for a moment, but then suddenly smiled.
‘Fancy picking a day for a name. Is Wednesday your favourite?’
The girl thought about it for a minute before shaking her head.
‘Nope, It’s Fwiday because that’s when our class does art. Do you have a favourite day?’
The man shrugged. ‘I don’t really keep track of the days.’
‘Do you know what today is?’
He didn’t.
‘That's funny,’ grinned Wednesday. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Oh, me?’ said the stranger. ‘You can call me Jimmy.’
-Just contact me if you'd like the rest! (visit my profile for the address)
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